A partially sighted Asian woman whose charitable work has twice been recognised by the Queen has launched a plea for donations to help the charity build on its success.

Bhanumati Dabhi, 60, of Stoke, Coventry, founded the Coventry Asian Blind Association in 1985 because her own experiences in the city made her realise a specialist organisation was urgently needed to help Asians cope with being blind in Coventry.

But she never thought her work in setting up the charity would be recognised by two invitations to meet the Queen - the first in June when Bhanumati and her colleague Naseem Rahman were chosen as representatives of one of only 200 charities in the UK to receive the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award for outstanding service to their community.

Bhanumati said: "We then got a call this Christmas from the BBC who wanted to interview us outside the palace about what we do in Coventry, after Her Majesty had recommended that we were ideal people to talk to about voluntary work.

"It was a great honour not just for us, but for Coventry as a whole. We were very proud to be there and to talk on television about the role we have."

Bhanumati, who will also appear on Carlton Television next month, said: "I started the charity because of my own experiences in Coventry.

"I am registered blind and initially found it very difficult to cope, and especially hard to find help with transportation and daily activities.

"But I had got a diploma in social work and I could identify what care was needed and how to provide it. So once I had developed contacts, starting the charity was a natural progression.

"Our aims are to help make people more self-reliant, and to enable people to take steps to deal with their situation. But we need donations to help us carry on our work."

The association hosts regular meetings at Primrose Hill Lodge, in Hillfields. It offers support to almost 60 people, of mixed race, religion and language.